Knockout mechanism for casting wheels



Aug. 5, 1952 w. J. MONAMARA 7 2,605,522 I KNOCKOUT MECHANISM FOR CASTING WHEELS r 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Filed March 7, 1950 r '7 INVENTOR. Vii/44mm J7 fic/Vmmzra \\HJ \A a u p -I vlm wwwwww mm wwlAA i A g- 1952 w. J. MCNAMARA KNOCKOUT MECHANISM FOR CASTING WHEELS 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed March 7, 1950 INVENTOR. Wdiurm J. flr/wzmzrra BY W Patented Aug. 5, 1952 KNOCKOUT MECHANISM Foa CASTING WHEELS William J. McNamara, Perth Amboy, N. J., as-

signor -to.'M. H. Treadwell Company, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 7, 1950, Serial No. 148,187

2 Claims. (Cl. 22-63 This invention relates to improvements in knockout mechanisms for casting wheels and more particularly relates to improved means for partially lifting a cast anode from a mold carried by a casting wheel so that the anode may be engaged by suitable lifting means to remove it completely'from the mold after it has hardened sufficiently'to be thus handled without material distortion.

It has heretofore been known to associate a vertical pin slidably with the bottom of a mold with the lower end of the pin extending downwardly to the level of an inclined surface of an underlying arcuate cam track so that as the casting wheel is turned in its operation, the lower end of the pin engages and slides upwardly on the incline, thus raising the pin and lifting one side or end of a formed anode from the mold.

This prior arrangement has several disadvantages. For example, the bottom of the lifting pin slides directly upon theinclined cam surface and the resultant friction tends to cant the pin in the opening provided for it in the mold and in any guide means that might be provided for it. This canting tendency induces excessive wear in the bore orguide through which the pin extends thereby impairing its operation and modifying to some extent" its coaction with the cam. The described frictional engagement also may cause excessivewear at the lowerend of the pin. A'further and probably greater disadvantage of the described prior pin arrangement is the fact that the upper end of the pin may engage the underside of the anode only at one point in order to lift it. If it is desired to 'employvtwo or more pins in association with a single anode'mold to lift an anode at two or more points some complications are encountered either in providing pins of different lengths to work in unison on a common cam surface or in providing special or separate cams to actuate'the several pins in unison. Under either of these alternative arrangements the'mentioned excessive wear takes place and as the wear of the several pins probably would not be uniform, they probably would not work in unison as desired.

Accordingly, an important object of the present invention is the provision of anode or other ingot knockout means which may include two or more knockout pins while, nevertheless, assuring that said pins always will function in unison as desired. '1

Another important object is the provision of improved anode knockout means in which-frictional wear'is reduced to a minimum whereby to prolong the period of satisfactory service of the mechanism and to require less frequent re- 'pairs or replacements of parts thereof.

The foregoing and other objects are accomplished by the present invention in its broader aspects by providing a vertically slidable pin lifter beneath each anode mold and suitably guided for vertical movement in alignment with one or more knockout pins incorporated into, the mold; the pin lifter being provided at its lower end with anti-friction means arranged to coact with the cam to raise the pin lifter and push the knockout pins upwardly to eject partially a cast anode. Also, if the pin lifter is intended to actuate plural knockout pins it preferably is formed with a bridge or yoke at its upper end which will coact simultaneously with all the knockout pins to operate them in unison. j

Although the present invention may be embodied in various structures, nevertheless, it is considered sufficient for yielding an understanding of the invention to illustrate and describe herein only one illustrative embodiment thereof without, however, limiting the invention to that particular embodiment.

A preferred embodiment of the invention accordingly is illustrated in the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic, fragmentary plan view of one peripheral portion of an anode casting wheel showing diagrammatically only one of the plural molds which are disposed at regular intervals about the wheel and indicating generally the location of an underlying cam track for actuating the knockout mechanism.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of aknockout mechanism according to the present invention as viewed I in a radial direction with respect to the casting wheel; including also fragmentary portions of a suflice to state that the means for supporting anode molds in a casting wheel commonly include an angle bracket support I l in a supporting position beneath a mold 12 and extending transversely thereof or i. e., in a more or less circumferential direction. A knockout pin I3 is shown in full lines in Fig. 3 in its normal vertical position in an aperture; 14 provided for it in 'the'mold,

and with its flared head I seated within a complementally shaped countersunk portion [6 of said aperture. The knockout pin is shown in broken lines in its raised position in which it has lifted and holds up an anode A which has been cast in the mold-and has hardened sufiiciently to be removed therefrom.

According to this invention means are provided for lifting the knockout pin 13, constituting a pin lifter generally designated as I! which is formed With a shank [8 of generally rectangular shape in cross-section, an integral bridge or yoke l9 at its upper end, and an integral bifurcated jaw at its lower end within which isfmounte'd a wheel 2| carried upon an axle pin 22 which is held in place by a set screw 23. I I y The pin lifter i1 is held and accurately 'g'ui'de'd for vertical sliding movement within a pair-of opposed gibs 24 which are suitably secured as by bolts 25 to opposite side marginal portions of a depending vertiea1 'fi'ange 2'5 or a bracket 21 which, to give it rigidity, is provided with a horizontal flange 28 at its upper end anuian integral reinforcing web '29 "at the outer side of said bracket. The bracket, in turn, is firml fixed to the angle. bracket anode sup ort I'] by suitable means'suoh as, for example, bolts 3o.

The gibs 2'4 may auvanta' eousi be formed with opposed, vertioan'y extending guide channels .3l, which as best'seen in Fig. 4 are prefelably of a width forming an accurate slide lit with adjacent side marginal portions of the shank f8 of the Thin lifter. However, as the fricti'on of the shank 'lB working within said chan nels is effective largely at the bottom surfaces of the channels, it is advantageous to iprovid in each channel "a liner 32 preferably of suitably slide-bearing material against which opposite side faces 33 of the shank 18 may bear and slide with an accurate sothat. in operation, the pin lifter is very closely restrain d against any material angular movement. The liners 32 maybe held Within the gibs against dislodgm'eht or displacement by being formed with outwardly ex tending tongues 34 overlyin the upper and lower ends of the 'gibsi These liners may easily be replaced whenever necessar by merely removing the gills, inserting liners and then replacing'the gibs.

A "cam forfraising "and lowering 'theipin lifter and the pins info'rder partially to eject an anode from the mold may be in 'lth'e form of a rail '35 bent to a'r'cuate 'forrriand disposed at such circumferential position, removed from the pouring station, that, in the time which is consumed in th movement of ,a mold from the pouring station to the cam rail, the cast anode in the mold will have become suffi'ciently hardened .for removal therefrom. The rail '35 preferably includes anincline portion 36 upon which the roller 2! rolls upwardly as it moves in the direction indicated by the directional arrow in "Fig. The effect of such upward. rolling onftheinclineis to rais the pin lifter. and the knockout pins 13 to lift the outer end of the anode clear of .the mold as indicated in Fig. 3. Upon reaching the upper end of the incline the roller?! traverses-aborizontal portion 37. of the rail .and that portion is made of sufilcientlength to. hold up the anode fora long enougnt'im'e to. enable the partially lifted anode to be completely remoVed from the mold either by hand tongs or by mechanical means before thercll'e'r reaches a downward incline (not shown) atit'he other end of the rail 35. When the 'rolierz'l "is entirely clear of all parts of the cam rail 35, the pin lifter I1 is suspended with the wheel 2| clear of any flooring or underlying surfaces. This is because of the fact that shoulders 38 on the underside of each of the arms of the yoke are so formed as to come to rest upon the upper ends of the gibs 24 whereby to limit the downward'movement of the pin lifter and thereby maintain such suspension thereof.

Although the present invention has been illustrated and described as employed with a pair of knockout pins l-3, nevertheless, it should be obvious that the principles of this invention may be employed if it is used in association with only one knockout pin or in association with more than two knockout pins. Th yoke [9 may be made larger or smaller depending upon the number of knockout pins with which it is to function.

The present knockout mechanism, of course, would be applied to all molds carried on any given casting wheel; and a single cam track, properly spaced circumferentially from the pourin-g station, womd function to operate similarly the knockout mechanism associated with each of theinold's.

It "should be apparent that the present invention eliminates all material friction at the point of co'action with the cam track. 'By doing that, it minimizes the tendency of the pin lifter to cant within the gibs and thus minimizes wear in the gibs. Furthermore, as already explained any such wear that might take place in the gibs will be effective almost entirely on the liners 32 which may be easily replaced. Also, by providing a separate, vertically sli'dablepin such as lifter I 1., the device can function with several anode lifting pins without requiring special cam or other means foractuatin'g the latter. Thus the present invention achieves its stated objectives.

It 'should be obvious that the present inventi've concept may be employed in various other structures without, however, departing from the spirit of. the "invention as set forth in the following claims.

What I claim is: r

1. A knockout mechanism for a horizontally movablev mold, comprising a cam disposed below the'lin'e of movemento'f the mold, plural vertical knockout pins of similar length,.g.uided for vertical. movementv withinseparate, spaced. apertures in the bottom cavity-wall .of'themold and limited to such verticm movement, relatively to the mold, to lowermost positions whichthe lower endso-f the pins are at the same level, -a bracket fixed to the underside of the mold adjacent to said pins, and a knockout-pin actuator vertically slidably guided in said bracket and having aflat, integral, horizontal top underlying said plural pins and coacting with the latter to :push them simultaneously upwardly to cause their upper ends to protrude at a common level into the cavity of the mold; a lower portion of said actuator being adapted tocoact with said cam to derive vertical movement therefrom during such horizontal movement of the-mold.

2. A knockout mechanism for a -horizontally-- arcuately movable mold, comprising an arcuate cam disposed below the line of movement of the mold, "plural, vertical knockout .pins of similar length, guided for vertical movement 'withinseparate, spaced apertures in the bottomoavity-wall of the mold, which apertures are in a line which is normal to a radius of the arcuate mold movement, and the .pins being limited to such vertical movement. relatively to the -mold, to lowermost positions in which the lower ends of the pins are 2,605,522 5 6 at the same level, a bracket fixed to the under- REFERENCES CITED Side the mold adjacent tqsaid 9 The following references are of record in the out-pm actuator vertically slidably guided in said file of this patent: bracket and restrained by the latter against rotation relatively to the bracket, and an enlarged 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS flat-top bridge integrally associated with an Number Name Date upper portion of said actuator and underlying 1,467,490 Norris Sept. 11, 1923 said plural pins and coacting with the latter to 1,490,710 Pepper Apr. 15, 1924 push them simultaneously upwardly to cause 1,817,483 Goad et a1 Aug. 4, 1931 their upper ends to protrude at a common level 10 into the cavity of the mold; a lower portion of FOREIGN PATENTS said actuator being adapted. to coact with said Number Country Date cam to derive vertical movement therefrom dur- 707,993 Germany J 1941 ing such horizontal movement of the mold.

WILLIAM J. McNAMARA. 15 

